I have done a bit of poking around considering that VMWare hasnt let me install ADDS within a Win2k8R2 VM with out crashing horribly.

The solution was to either run Xen, or find some other alternative. I spoke with a few colleagues who recommended that i check out Virtual Box (http://www.virtualbox.org/) for a nice lightwieght app that will let me run VMs on my desktop.

After a quick download, ive then installed Virtual Box and to my surprise, there has been no requirement to reboot! Hazaa! Mark 1 for Virtual Box.

From here, it was fairly straight forward to go through and start setting up my VMs, which i proceeded to do. I may have rushed through the initial setup though, to test and see if i could replicate the issue with ADDS being installed and to my relief, there were no crashing issues when installing the role or trying to run dcpromo.exe after the installation of the role!

So, in an effort to further my knowledge and understanding, I have taken it up on my self to finally sit down and go through all of the MCITP Books for Windows 2008, starting with Active Directory, with a view to sit the exams and finally get some certifications against my name.

Having already procured the eBooks from a friend that did something similar, I went about getting an environment for the VMs to be housed within for said study purposes. Having been a fan and used on lots of occasions, I went down the VMWare Route, choosing VMWare Server 2.0.2 running on my Windows 7 Desktop (Q6600, 8gb RAM).

After setting off in search for the installer for VMWare Server and installing it, I jumped through to the first excercise, a task which i have performed so many times that ive lost count, the installation of Windows Server 2008 and the installation of the Active Directory Domain Services Role.

So following the Text, i have inserted the ‘CD’, kicked off the installer and followed the prompts as per the book. Following the completion of the installation we then move onto the installation of the AD DS Role. Using the same method as described in the book (and funnily enough, the same process that ive always used) have begun to install the AD DS Role.

Now for the fun part!

The installation of the role progresses along until it is attempting to finalise the installation. At this point, the whole VM freezes and freezes to a point that i have to hard restart the VM. Upon restarting, the installer tries to pick up from where it left off and, you guessed it, freezes again! Once more having to hard reset the VM. Logging back into the VM shows that the AD DS Role is now installed, but, to what extent? I havent been able to confirm that the installer completed the process 100%?

So now, I hi-jack my housemates brand spanking new i7 Dell Inspiron which has a fair amount of grunt (Especially for what he paid for it… grmbl). Said laptop also has VMWare Server 2.0.2 installed on it. To test, I provisioned a new VM, reinstalled Server 2k8 R2 and again attempted to install the AD DS role.

…

It freezes again!?

Im at a loss, i dont understand why its doing this? Does this mean that i am really going to have to move to something, like, *shudder* Hyper-V? How am i now meant to continue along with my studies? More the point, how can my faithful VMWare let me down?